The increased use of computers throughout the circuit breaker industry for inventory of circuit breaker components along with the automated assembly of the components into a finished product has correspondingly required a reduction in the large variety of components used with the various breaker ratings to make such automation practical as well as economically feasible. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 678,208 entitled "Automated Q-Line Circuit Breaker" in the name of Raymond Seymour et al. describes a 120/220 volt residential-type circuit breaker designed for completely automated assembly. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 500,643 in the names of Ronald Ciarcia et al. entitled "Circuit Breaker Design For High Speed Assembly" describes a 277/480 volt circuit breaker designed for commercial applications, which is capable of automated assembly, in part.
The industry trend toward the use of computerized inventory and parts simplification for circuit breaker manufacture implies that tremendous savings in time and materials can also be realized in the manufacture of the panelboards and load centers used to house the residential and industrial-type breakers. In the manufacture of industrial panelboards, for example, each breaker rating and design requires a tailored panelboard assembly for housing and supporting the breakers. Automation of industrial panelboard manufacture has heretofore been difficult to achieve because of the large variety of components required for the various breaker ratings. The use of sheet metal supports with insulating plates as well as the large variety of screws, rivets and bolts required to assemble the metal panelboard internal assembly has complicated earlier attempts to automatically assemble the panelboard enclosures.
The advent of high strength insulating plastic materials such as Noryl.RTM. and Valox.RTM. which are registered trademarks of General Electric Company for high temperature durable thermoplastic resins, has allowed the use of molded plastic components to multifunctionally provide the necessary insulation between the phase conductors as well as to space and support the breakers on the power buses.
One purpose of this invention is to describe an industrial circuit breaker panelboard design wherein the panelboard components are capable of use with circuit breakers over a wide range of ratings without requiring a correspondingly large variety of inventoried components and parts.
Another purpose of this invention is to propose a modular concept to circuit breaker panelboard assembly wherein the main breaker, branch breakers, neutral support and option support structures are configured for interconnection independent of length requirements. Any desired number of breakers can then be arranged on such a module and the module is then connected with the remaining modules of adjustable configuration. This modular concept can allow for a wide range of customer requirements with only minor modification of the panelboard interior.